Day 2-47 -- Stormy Holiday Monday

Very strong winds blew snow about all night long and are still audible outside my windows. I moved more snow today, but far less than others in the maritimes have encountered. We also had a reasonable amount of rain yesterday, but haven't seen quite the same degree of flooding as elsewhere in the province. It is a long weekend, so while many businesses were closed due to road and visibility problems, there were no school closures due to weather today. The campus is closed, but classes and offices had not been planned due to the holiday.

Today marks the first time for a new provincial holiday in Nova Scotia -- Heritage Day. The honoree chosen for this inaugural year is Viola Desmond.  A Canadian stamp issued earlier also honoured her active protest for equal rights for African Canadians. In November 1946, this woman was travelling from Halifax to Sidney for business. Her car broke down and while it was being fixed she went to the local movie theatre. She tried to buy a ticket to sit on the main floor, but was refused. It seemed that persons of colour were relegated to the balcony seats only albeit at a 10 cent price reduction.  She still chose to sit on the main floor. This protest led to her being taken to jail overnight and subsequently convicted of defrauding the province of 1 cent tax that would have been included in the price of a main floor ticket. She was given the choice to pay a fine of $26 or go to jail for 30 days. Desmond ran a beauty school and could not abandon her work, so paid the fine. It was 2010 before a pardon was provided (posthumously) due to the unfair treatment she received in the courts based on her colour. Desmond's protest occurred before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in the US. Both women showed courage in pointing out that the practices in place at the times were unfair.

Only one song came to mind to fit the Heritage Day honoree and those like her -- a simple lyric and melody that speak to the hope behind such advocacy. Enjoy!

We Shall Not be Moved -- Mavis Staples